


A crime against honor

by 700wordsAmonth



Series: Attorneys at Law [4]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Angst, But we all know why, Enemies With Benefits, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Waverly is kind of an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27889504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/700wordsAmonth/pseuds/700wordsAmonth
Summary: Nicole worked her charm on Waverly's prospective clients way too often, and this latest client might be the last straw.It has nothing to do with the fact that the charmed client is a beautiful woman.Nothing at all.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Series: Attorneys at Law [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008219
Comments: 97
Kudos: 258





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another scene in the Attorneys at Law series. I'd recommend you read them in order for better context.

Nicole won this one.

Waverly should have known. If she turned her charm on to lure straight men into signing contracts with her, what wouldn’t she do to win over Shae Pressman – a successful, beautiful lady doctor?

Waverly should have known.

She was fuming when she arrived at court. But another hearing facing off Nicole Haught was just what she needed to turn her anger – because that was what this was, pure anger – into a very well-aimed knife.

Waverly was ruthless, more so than usual, her mind sharp. She cornered Nicole at every misspoken question, every misstated conclusion. Still, the temporary victories did little to dissipate the burning she felt in her stomach.

“Congratulations,” Nicole said as she approached Waverly, the room already empty in the lunch rush. “That was a tongue-lashing.”

 _There it was_ , that vulgar, womanizing smirk painting Nicole’s lips dark red.

“Do you sleep okay when big companies like this one walk out free thanks to how good you are at spotting technicalities?”

Waverly recognized their usual badgering, but this time it had her blood boiling.

“Spare me your lousy loser snark.”

“ _Ouch._ Someone is having a bad day.”

Waverly felt Nicole’s body align with her own from behind, close but not touching, and raspy words were delivered against her ear – “Maybe I can be of use.”

Waverly chuckled mirthlessly without looking at Nicole. “At least you know what you’re good for.”

The warmth at her back left her at once, and a weight settled on Waverly’s chest.

“What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means, Miss Haught?” She turned around and met Nicole’s gaze. “It was pretty clear.”

“So, I’m only good for sex. Is that it?”

“Don’t act so surprised when that’s the exact image you choose to strut around.”

Waverly observed as Nicole’s eyes got darker, duller.

_Good._

“It’s fine, Nicole, not everybody is meant for relationships.”

“Oh, I see. I’m not, what? ‘The marrying kind’? But you are, right?”

“Well, at least I don’t use sex as a bargain chip.”

Nicole squeezed her eyes shut and sighed before looking at Waverly again.

“Bargain chip? What are you talking about?”

“Oh _please_ , don’t be dense,” the gravel in her own tone hurt her throat. She felt raw. “Shae Pressman had already shaken hands on hiring us. Wanna tell me why she suddenly decided to go in a different direction?”

“Come on, you know how these things go. I flirted, but I didn’t sleep with her.”

“That’s some impressive flirting if in one meeting you managed to undo weeks of negotiations.”

“Yea, it is, actually. And you know it. It won _you_ over.”

“Right.” Waverly swallowed thickly and shrugged. “So, I guess you worked that tongue on her too.”

_“Of course n-”_

“Just be careful,” Waverly interrupted her, “you don’t want to lose the respect of your clients and colleagues by being everybody’s booty call.”

“ _Everybody’s-_ Screw you, Waverly. I didn’t sleep with her. And you don’t get to look down on me for answering when _you’re_ the one calling me.”

“Yea. Screw me. Is that why you were pushed out of the DA’s office? Did you screw someone you shouldn’t have on your way up?”

Nicole shook her head. “You’re mean when you’re jealous, and you have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t call me again.”

Waverly watched as Nicole turned and walked away, but still the anger burned bright in her chest, words stuck in her throat.

_Good riddance._

* * *

That night, with a third glass of whiskey in her hand, Waverly started to feel the uncoiling of that tight knot of anger in her stomach, her blood cooler in her veins. She was tired of being angry. And she could admit to herself she’d blown things a bit out of proportion. Her company and Nicole’s were often competing for the same clients. And Nicole was way too charming for her own good.

It didn’t mean that Nicole _hadn’t_ had sex with Shae, but it didn’t mean that she had either.

Once a little calmer and a bit more than a little drunk, angry sex started to seem like a great solution for the little altercation she’d had with Nicole. If nothing else, keeping Nicole busy would keep her away from Shae. The idea made her feel more at ease instantly.

Yea. She could keep Nicole away from Shae.

Because that would mean that maybe the successful doctor would go back on hiring Nicole’s firm. That’s what this was about: winning. Or, at least, not losing.

* * *

The door opened to reveal brown eyes harder than Waverly had ever seen them.

“What are you doing here?”

Waverly stepped past Nicole, letting herself in. She turned around and started to undo the buttons of her blouse.

“Let’s fuck this out.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Come on, Nicole,” Waverly said oily. She forced her lips into a smirk, hoping the clear invitation would do the job for her. “Are you still offended because I pointed out you’re not the white picket fence type?”

Nicole passed her hand through her hair, clearly frustrated and _oh so attractive._ Waverly wanted a fistful of that hair instantly.

“Yea, I’m not gonna do this. Go home, Waverly.”

“Look, we’re not 1950’s housewives. There’s nothing wrong with not being-”

“ _Just-_ Go home. I don’t want to do this now, okay?”

Stepping closer, closer… close to Nicole, Waverly leaned one arm on her shoulder, her other one crumpling up Nicole’s soft t-shirt. She took a purposeful deep breath in that put her cleavage in evidence, and pouted.

“So, you don’t want to get laid because I teased you a little bit?”

“I’m used to your teasing, to our stupid courtroom trash talk. Today you were… _God,_ I don’t even know.” Nicole took a step away from her, untangling Waverly’s arms from around herself and crossing her own in front of her chest. “You were shaming me, insinuating I slept my way up. I got the general message: I’m a whore and not good enough for you.”

 _No, that’s not…_ Waverly had said it, she’d more than insinuated it, but she hadn’t meant it. At least not with a clear head.

“Nicole…” Waverly wrapped her limbs around herself. Her feet felt glued to the floor, unsure how to react.

“It was a shitty thing to say. You have _no idea_ how much I-,” Nicole stopped herself, her eyes intent and hurt staring into Waverly’s. “You have no idea what I want.”

“Come on,” Waverly pleaded. She could only hope Nicole hadn’t heard the tremble in her tone. “You’re telling me you want the pretty, little wife and the house in the suburbs? _Please_.” It lacked the dismissal Waverly had been going for, her voice still weak with uncertainty, and she was pretty sure the both of them were aware of how off her aim had been.

“Like I said, you have no idea what I want.”

It would have been hard to spot the new rush of blood that rose to Nicole’s cheeks hadn’t Waverly been observing her so closely. But she was, and, despite Nicole’s indifferent words, clear embarrassment tinted her cheeks red where before there had been a slightly angry pink.

“We’re asshole lawyers working for big ass companies. That life is not for us.”

And it wasn’t. Waverly couldn’t imagine leaving the rush of sound and movement that was Manhattan to move to a quaint little neighborhood where kids could play outside, where the streets were made of stone and the ground was uneven.

She couldn’t imagine that without reminding herself of her young aspirations of becoming an environmental lawyer. She couldn’t imagine that without the consequent loss of Willa and her father’s respect.

“That’s just our job,” Nicole’s voice shifted her attention back from a place she'd rather not visit, “it can be changed whenever we want. Whatever image you have of me, a flirty asshole of a lawyer,-”

“I got it wrong.”

“Yea, you did.”

“I’m sorry. Can we…” Waverly stepped closer to Nicole again, finally able to move. She reached out to grasp the edge of Nicole’s t-shirt with the tips of her fingers. She needed to fix this. “Can we move past this? I was just angry about you stealing my client and blew up. It won’t happen again.”

Nicole chuckled, but there was no humor in it. She shook her head, and Waverly understood that, for whatever reason, Nicole didn’t believe her.

“Come on,” she tried again. “I’m sorry I said all those nasty things. I over-reacted. I don’t even believe the things I said. I’m sex-positive, you know that.”

“Right, except when that’s sex I’m supposedly having with someone else.”

 _No._ This wasn't about Waverly acting like a jealous girlfriend. She wasn't jealous and, more importantly, she wasn't a girlfriend.

“ _Tsk._ That was about you stealing _my_ contract with a big clinic.”

“Sure, Waverly,” Nicole allowed, the clear disbelief in disagreement with her words.

It was fine, though. Waverly wasn’t in a position to push her right now anyway. Let her believe whatever she wanted. At least for the night.

“I was thinking we could make tonight just about you, hm? I should pay for my actions. You could lock me up, or I could pay… service… Or both.”

Her heart was running. She wasn’t usually this forward. But this was a quick fix, wasn’t it? It was what they both wanted from each other. She just hoped Nicole’s want of her was stronger than the anger she’d provoked.

And Waverly saw that want in Nicole right then, in the way her throat worked as she heard Waverly’s offer. The brown in her irises pushed smaller and smaller as her pupils dilated. Waverly could feel her own body reacting to the visual response she’d gotten from Nicole.

“ _Jesus,”_ Nicole said as she broke the short spell the both of them had been under. “You really can’t treat me like that, Waverly.”

“I know. I won’t," she rushed to agree. "I was _way_ out of line. So... let me make it up to you. _Please?_ ”

Nicole let out a small whine, struggling with herself, but so ready to give into her that Waverly could almost taste her.

_Almost._

“I don’t think we should. I’m… I’m not ending this, not right now, anyway, but-”

“Ending?” Waverly got stuck on that word. She felt her organs relocate, reorganize themselves to protect the most tender parts of her, ready for another blow.

“I'm _not_ ending it. But I do think we should give each other some space.”

“Space?”

“Yea.”

_Space._

They’d fought before. They fought all the time, always trying to find a way to get under each other’s skin, make each other lose their cool, lose their case, their contract. But that, ever since that first time, always, _always_ ended up in harsh, delicious bites and finger-shaped bruises on the inside of her thighs.

_Space._

Manhattan felt colder on her way home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, @DanielleVEsq! More thank yous at the end note to avoid any spoilers.

_“What are you smiling about, weirdo?” Wynonna asked, bringing her back to the dim, almost absent lighting of the bar._

_“Nothing,” Waverly replied, but the attention only made her smile bigger. She couldn’t help herself, she felt giddy._

_Nicole had slept in her bed twice this week. And she knew she’d gotten more dependent on these little encounters with Nicole than she’d like to admit, but it was only natural, right? You let someone take such good care of your body, some affection was bound to arise._

_And Nicole was **very** affectionate when she allowed herself to be._

_Something had changed when Waverly confessed to wanting Nicole to stay the night. It seemed that the slight hesitancy Nicole had carried around her during their post-sex routine had been for Waverly’s benefit, and not her own, because, invited to stay, Nicole seemed to allow herself to touch without an end goal. And Waverly had always been naturally tactile. The combination led to a warm, pleasant morning filled with unhurried coffee kisses and an easy connection._

_It’d felt good to do something as simple as have breakfast with Nicole._

_“ **Oy!** You’re still smiling!” Wynonna’s not so gentle call to her interrupted her daydreaming again. “Did that redhead fuck your brains ou- Never mind, do not wanna know.”_

_“She **is** really good at-”_

_“Lalalalala,” Wynonna chanted, covering her ears._

_“You asked.”_

_“I also said ‘never mind, don’t wanna know’, you asshole. Anyway, why are you all,” Wynonna started batting her eyelashes at her, mimicking – terribly, Waverly might add – her expression as she’d been lost in thought._

_“I am **not**. And it’s nothing, okay? Just had a good morning.”_

_“A good **morning**? Did she stay over?”_

_“Yea. It was late when we finished.”_

_“First: **ew**. Second: baby girl, that’s a dangerous game. You said it yourself several times, Haught is a player. And that’s alright when you’re taking advantage of her charming, sexy player skills, but I don’t want to see you heartbroken.”_

_“I’m not gonna be heartbroken. **Jesus** , it was just breakfast.” _

_“Sweet cheeks,” Rosita – their friend who they’d come to know when she started working as a PI for their cases – said as she arrived back at their table with their drinks, “you’re smiling too big for ‘just breakfast’. Unless, of course, **you** were the meal.”_

_“ **Oh god!** ” Waverly hid behind her hands, her cheeks burning so hot it brought a sheen of tears to her eyes._

_“Oh my god, you were!” Rosita was laughing loudly, thoroughly entertained, it seemed, by Waverly’s sexual life._

_“No, I wasn’t! But it’s embarrassing that you’re implying it anyway.”_

_“Sure, honey.”_

_Wynonna sighed and pulled Waverly’s glass to herself to dry off its contents. “I regret not drinking more before we started this conversation.”_

_“I regret starting this conversation at all,” Waverly added._

_Rosita, still smirking, completed – “I regret nothing.”_

_Later that night, alone in her bed, Waverly did wonder – **was she going to end up heartbroken?**_

* * *

_Waverly woke up early the following morning, the apprehension and hope tangled together in her stomach turned out to be an efficient alarm clock._

_She just needed the distraction of work. And she’d sign an important contract today. Pressman Women’s Health Private Practice. It was an important step in the direction of spreading their practice to the medical law arena, and her father was anxious for that development. It was sure to keep her mind busy straight into the afternoon._

* * *

_“Miss Earp,” Shae Pressman welcomed her, expressive brown eyes a little subdued by the sheepish look on her face as she offered the seat opposite her to Waverly._

_“Miss Pressman, is everything alright?”_

_“I’m afraid I have bad news. I’ll just be straight with you. I was offered a deal I could not turn down.”_

_**Fuck**. That was almost a month of negotiations down the drain. “By whom?”_

_“Mills & Lockhart. One of their associates came to me. I must say, she’s very persuasive.”_

_Waverly’s heart stopped for a fraction of a moment, suspended in a half-beat._

_“An associate from Mills & Lockhart, you said?”_

_“Yes. Nicole Haught, you probably know her. She came here earlier in the week to make a proposal. She was… very convincing.”_

_“I’ll bet.” A bitter taste rose to the back of Waverly’s throat._

_“I told her I’d think it over, I wanted to talk to you in person before signing with them, but my mind is made, Miss Earp. I’m really sorry about it, but it’s the best for my clinic.”_

_“We could come up with a counter-proposal, Mis-”_

_“I’m sure you could, but I liked their approach. I’m sorry, but I’m signing with them.”_

_“I understand.”_

_“Thank you for coming here and, again, I’m sorry.”_

_“No, don’t worry, I get it. Miss Haught can be very persuasive.”_

_“Understatement of the year, isn’t it, Miss Earp?” Shae smiled at her as if they were old friends sharing an inside joke._

_Waverly forced a smile back. “Yea. Understatement of the year.”_

* * *

* * *

It’d been two weeks.

Two weeks of professional meetings with a Nicole that could barely look her in the eye.

This limbo of being apart but in each other’s presence so often was beginning to feel more like an ending than a pause.

She sat opposite Nicole, discussing the details of this settlement and she _longed._ She missed so much about their nights together that she could barely believe that all that feeling could once have been contained by such a small part of the day.

She missed how loose she felt after an evening with Nicole. Missed the warmth of those small minutes within Nicole’s arms, between deep, pulsing pleasure and the cool drive home. Minutes that the both of them had started to stretch right into the early morning. Those memories felt more carved into her body than on her mind. Nicole’s skin hot and damp against her own. Nicole’s heart, so strong, beating heavily against her back as Nicole spooned her, its rhythm slowing down as Nicole’s breathing got lighter, warm air running past her neck and raising goosebumps on her skin on its way.

And it was _funny_ that Nicole and she had never really been each other’s anything, not really, and still the threat of an ending sealed her stomach and squeezed her heart in such a tight fist that she found herself clawing at her chest in an attempt to relieve it.

“And the environmental damages?” Nicole asked, her eyes questioning on Waverly’s, then falling to her hand on her chest, and quickly climbing to her eyes again.

“My client is committed to recuperating the area.”

“Good.”

Then again, maybe funny wasn’t the word for it.

* * *

Weeks of stunted, professional conversations. Hence Waverly's surprise when Nicole showed up at her door, breathless.

“What is it that you want?” Nicole asked as soon as their eyes met.

“What?”

“What do you want from me? From us?”

“I…” _What **did** she want?_

Nicole was standing in front of her, tiny dots painted her clothes darker due to the easy rain that was falling, and what Waverly wanted was for her to come in. She wanted Nicole to spend the night with her again. To have kisses with her morning coffee. She wanted Nicole to look at her like she used to, without the walls that had kept her from knowing what Nicole was thinking. “I want to go back to how things were.”

Nicole looked down, her body leaning on the doorway heavily, as if something had been sucked out of her. Her eyes were a little unfocused from alcohol, Waverly noticed. “Like things were?”

“Yea.” It was the wrong thing to say, Waverly was observant enough to know that. But, without knowing the right answer, truth seemed to be her best bet at getting what she wanted.

Nicole shook her head. “I told you-”

“I know. You want the real deal: the beautiful, sweet wife to build a family with.” And that was an idea that tasted bittersweet. “And I know that that’s not us, so...”

 _And it wasn’t_ , Waverly repeated for her own sake. It had never been them. They were angry and flirty and rough and teasing and sometimes possessive. Whatever Waverly felt in the afterglow of their nights wasn’t real. It was sex, orgasm, hormones, and she’d be a fool to expect Nicole to mix up those things with feelings as well. Especially when Nicole wanted to do the exact opposite - wanted to end them to clear the way for the right woman. 

“So,” Waverly continued, “until you find her, we can do us.”

Nicole took a shaky, wet breath, her shoulders curving inwards.

“Please,” Waverly asked, running out of arguments to persuade her, to convince her that what was working before could work again. “I miss your touch.”

Nicole’s eyes squeezed shut – _don’t_ , she said, barely audible, just a breath.

Waverly touched Nicole’s hands, held them, guided them until she was within Nicole’s arms. Her own hands followed up Nicole’s arms to tease at the back of her head, at that sensitive spot that always had Nicole shivering under her attention.

“I know someday you’ll find a woman who you’ll really like and the two of you will have a beautiful family. But there’s no reason to stop doing _us_ now. We feel good together, don’t we? Just until you find her.”

“Yea,” Nicole said, her voice still wet as she trembled in Waverly’s arms, “until I find her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna thank @DanielleVEsq who listened to my confusing rambles as I tried to figure out how to fic and how to lawyer, and who gave me the idea for Waverly and Nicole to be opposing counselors on a case while they were at odds.  
> I wish I had the stamina to flesh that scene out a little more, but I've been trying to piece things together every which way for three days now, and I just need this chapter to be out of my hands. Let the wilderness take it, it will have to fend for itself now.  
> This baby needs to be given birth before it kills its mama, is what I'm saying.


	3. Chapter 3

Waverly was nervous that first night.

Nicole was still visibly shaken, and Waverly feared that any misstep would make her change her mind again.

There was a disconnect in how they touched each other. Too much thought put into it. Too much fear getting through. And the longer they failed to find their usual rhythm, the more terrified Waverly got that that disconnection would be the misstep to end them once and for all.

“Sorry,” came Nicole’s apology – maybe finally, maybe too soon, though it was clear neither of them would be able to come that night. Unexpectedly, Waverly’s body felt heavier without Nicole’s on top of her.

“It’s okay.” It was, but Waverly wouldn’t mind if they were to keep trying, if only so she had an excuse to keep touching Nicole. “My head isn’t in the right place for this either. We can try again another time. Right?”

“Yea,” Nicole offered, with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Maybe I should go.”

 _“No,”_ Waverly opposed in a small voice, almost as small as she felt, with sudden panic gripping at her chest. “We just need to ease into it again. Stay, sleep with me.”

“I… Won’t it be weird?” Nicole was laying on her back, her eyes expectant on Waverly’s.

Waverly pushed herself up to better watch Nicole. She traced her jawline, touched her bottom lip. “Not if we don’t make it weird.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Turn around,” Waverly asked, wrapping herself around Nicole as she did as she’d been told. “See?” Waverly moved her lips against Nicole’s shoulder in a half kiss – “Not weird at all.”

Nicole exhaled, her chest relaxing underneath Waverly’s palm, though there was still some tension in her body. Waverly knew so well what a relaxed Nicole felt like within her arms, and this wasn’t it.

“Did you know that Wynonna once got a five thousand fine for flipping the bird at a judge?” Waverly asked. She could bring Nicole out of her own head.

Nicole turned to her suddenly, her eyes wide. “No!”

“Yep.”

“In court?”

“In court.”

Nicole shook her head in amused disapproval, her smile big enough that Waverly’s apprehensive heart started beating a little easier.

“You Earp women are wild.”

“I think that that’s more the Gibson in us than the Earp, to be fair.”

“Your mom?” Nicole asked.

“My mom’s the wildest of us all.”

“I hope I can meet her one day.”

Waverly stared into warm brown eyes that twinkled at her, and brushed a thumb against the small beauty mark right below the corner of Nicole’s left eye. “That can be arranged.” Her words felt suspended in time as she studied Nicole and was studied in return. A promise that shouldn’t be made blurring their just reestablished lines.

“She’d like you, you know,” Waverly continued, deciding to ignore the underlying implications of their conversation. “Mama always had a thing for the charming ones.”

“ _Huh_ , so I might be able to romance two Gibson women?”

Waverly bit Nicole’s shoulder, earning herself a hiss, and squeezed her into her body again, resetting their spooning. “Don’t you dare,” she warned.

“Scared Mama Gibson would take me up on my offer?”

Waverly huffed, but relented – “Yes. Cause I know she would.”

“Fine,” Nicole said in a yawn, stretching her back and arms and adjusting herself to get more comfortable. “I won’t romance your mom.”

“Thank you.”

Waverly kissed Nicole’s neck, felt her further easing into the pillow and into her embrace, the lighter air between them finally allowing for the emotional exhaustion of the day to catch up with them.

A _good night_ was whispered, answered only by a hum.

Waverly fought sleep just long enough to be able to watch Nicole Haught asleep in her arms again.

* * *

It was luck and work that brought them together time and again the next couple of weeks. Between meetings for a new settlement, schedule-related coincidences at the courthouse and a bar that had made regulars out of them, Waverly found herself pulling Nicole to hidden corners more often than she’d like to admit.

And it wasn’t so much a conscious choice as it was… inevitable. Nicole would extend her hand to her in good-bye after an afternoon of work, and Waverly would just be unable to let go. She’d hold Nicole’s hand instead of shaking it, bring Nicole closer instead of letting go – lock her office’s door when Nicole was about to walk out.

But those rushed sessions weren’t exactly ideal for them to go much further than heated kisses and needy grasps, and the fear of what a rerun of their last time might mean to their relatio- _situation_ could only keep Waverly from having Nicole fully for so long.

In the end, it didn’t take long at all. 13 days seemed to be her limit.

* * *

The music coming from the bar sounded softer by the time it reached the bathroom and was made even less noticeable to Waverly when Nicole was pining her to the door, her lips gentle but demanding on Waverly’s, and her teeth sharp. Other than that kiss, Waverly was only aware of the heavy bass that trembled against her back every now and then.

Lips pressed to her cheek, her jaw – where she gladly suffered a light bite – and trapped her heartbeat right where it jumped on the left side of her neck.

“Come over,” Waverly invited, before the thought had even been fully formed in her mind.

* * *

Waverly felt consumed by Nicole – her whole being so focused on every touch and smell, she couldn’t say the exact steps that’d taken the two of them to her bed, Nicole on top of her, inside her. And it was unlikely, because they were touching everywhere, but the touch that really did her in was that of Nicole’s hair tickling her face, shielding them in their own world as Nicole’s warm breathing ghosted on her lips, dark eyes so sweet on her own.

 _“Oh, god,”_ Waverly moaned as her eyes fell closed. Her jaw slacked then, making her incapable of forming new words, and a deep groan escaped her throat. _I love you._

Her eyes snapped open.

“Stop. Nicole, stop.” Waverly was suddenly over-ventilating, pulling air into lungs that were already at full capacity. Her hands met Nicole’s, stopping that delicious push and pull as she struggled to sit up.

“What? Why?” Nicole asked, now sat still in the middle of the bed as Waverly moved away from her, almost falling on her way out of the bed, her body still suffering the whiplash her mind had imposed on it, but now able to release some air.

“What’s wrong? I could tell you were almost-”

“Stop. Just stop talking.” Waverly was looking around the bedroom for her clothes, but mostly she looked away from Nicole.

“What did I do? Did I hurt you?”

“No. No. You didn’t hurt me. You-” the image of Nicole on top of her came to her mind again, red strands caught in the light and reaching her face. The almost-kiss that followed. The way Nicole looked at her when their lips stopped touching. _Oh, god_. Her heart squeezed. “I have to go.”

* * *

The city was nothing more than rushing lights on Waverly’s drive home, lights that did little to distract her from the unsatisfied wetness between her thighs and the fearful tremble of her heart. If Waverly stopped at any street signs, she didn’t register it.

It that headspace, it was no wonder that it took her a moment to compute Wynonna on her couch when she arrived home.

“Why- What are you doing here?” Waverly asked, more confused than troubled.

“Can’t I pay my dearly missed baby sister a visit?”

“We work together, and you spend the night here almost every time we go out drinking.”

“Exactly. This is my home away from home,” Wynonna said, but her eyes were more aware on Waverly now. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Waverly answered as she turned back to the door to lock it for the night. Turning again, the bottle in Wynonna’s hand caught her attention. _Yea. That would do it._ “Give me that.”

* * *

Though the alcohol did give her a small headache and some queasiness in the following morning, it didn’t manage to erase the previous night. Nor did it prevent her schedule from crashing with Nicole’s again that afternoon.

Nicole was staring at her before they went into their neighboring courtrooms, her gaze communicating a mess of worry and guilt and confusion. And, by the end of Waverly’s hearing, Nicole was there again, waiting for her outside those same courtrooms.

She could walk away, but there was not much sense in running when Waverly had already been caught where it mattered the most.

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked, still that worry tensioning her lips and brow.

“Yea, I’m fine.”

“I-” Nicole paused and looked around them, no privacy to be found. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”

Waverly shook her head. She didn’t know how to start, didn’t even know if she wanted to have this conversation. Couldn’t form the words in her head. So, she pushed her height up on the tips of her toes and kissed Nicole roughly. She just wanted simple. Easy. _It was just sex. It was just sex. How could she have been so stupid?_

The kiss broke soon enough given the surprise of it, doubt coloring Nicole’s eyes a darker shade of brown. Warm air teased her lips right before Nicole initiated the kiss again, softer, and Waverly felt herself falling forward, faint with how tender the touch was. Her heart felt like it was falling too. Her whole body. She was falling, had been for some time now. She just wished she’d had more of a warning.

She’d known she had feelings for Nicole, but there were so many of them – annoyance and amusement and jealousy and anger wrapped all so tightly into joy and fun and pleasure. How could one look at that mess and have a clear picture?

Nicole pulled away from the kiss and nuzzled her cheek, and that alone was enough to hitch her breathing and melt her further.

 _Stop_ and _Don’t ever stop_ were cried out in her head, both voices in despair. Both voices her own.

“Tell me what happened. I don’t understand what I did.”

Waverly’s heart was beating so hard, had been ever since the day before, in a rhythm that was forceful and painful, gaining and losing size in aching stretches and contractions.

She brought Nicole in, just enough to hide her face in Nicole’s chest, her muscles relaxing under the pressure of Nicole’s arms around her.

“Take me home? I don’t want to do this here.”

* * *

The drive was quiet and peaceful despite the questions Waverly could see festering in Nicole’s eyes. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Waverly finally said, unwilling to have Nicole believe she’d hurt her for any longer than she’d already had. “You did it… _too_ right. I got overwhelmed.”

Nicole furrowed her brow further, her eyes meeting Waverly’s for a beat, distracted from the slow traffic of mid-afternoon. “Too right? I- Did you need me to slow down? Whatever you need, you can ask me. I can stop whatever you need me to stop, or start whatever-”

“No, just… The moment. You. Your hair… I-” Waverly looked at Nicole and exhaled, the car coming to a stop as the moment rose in suspension again, heavier now that the soft hum of the engine was gone. Silence echoed in the building’s parking lot.

Waverly undid her seat belt and leaned across the gear stick, her right hand guiding Nicole toward her into a gentle kiss. Waverly watched as Nicole’s eyes fell closed instantly before allowing herself to close her own. Despite how lightly their lips met, emotion crashed within her like a summer storm, whose dark clouds cautioned its arrival, but parted suddenly to allow the heavy downpour.

 _“Nicole.”_ She _needed_. She needed too much.

“What is it?”

Waverly adjusted herself on the seat and undid the top buttons of her blouse. The thought to be closer moved her easily onto Nicole’s lap, and she fumbled with the small zipper of her own slacks. Waverly guided Nicole’s hands onto her breasts for a harsh squeeze, and lower, down her belly and into her pants. Her body had been waiting for Nicole’s touch since the night before, or maybe longer.

 _Longer, for sure,_ Waverly thought as she breathed in air that already felt warm and humid between them.

“Stay,” Waverly muttered into Nicole’s mouth. She rolled her rips forcefully against the hand trapped between their bodies. There was no skill to it, just want. “Stay with me.”

“I promise.” Nicole was earnest. She looked like a knight pleading fealty to her queen. “For as long as you want me, you have me.”

“Promise?” Waverly asked in a breathy groan and reached up with one hand, pushing it against the ceiling of the car to power her rough riding of Nicole’s fingers further.

“Promise,” Nicole repeated, rubbing against that sensitive, swollen spot over and over and over again. “I’m yours.”

Waverly’s walls closed tightly around Nicole, turning her riding into an uncoordinated grind as her broken moans were bit into Nicole’s skin.

Waverly’s whole body held to Nicole despite her trembling muscles. Her forehead came to rest on Nicole’s left shoulder, her arms squeezing Nicole into her and her thighs clenched around Nicole’s hips as the fluttering of her walls went on, gradually losing power until she laid boneless on top of Nicole.

Messy between her thighs and sweaty all over, Waverly turned a little to let her nose trace that sweet vanilla scent on the smooth skin behind Nicole’s ear. “I like you,” she said weakly from her hiding spot, body trembling again for a whole different reason.

Nicole combed her fingers through Waverly’s hair in a soothing motion before holding onto her roots and pulling gently, guiding Waverly to look into her eyes. “Yea?”

“Yea.”

A wet laugh escaped Nicole’s perfectly swollen lips. Brown eyes held a telling shine that was complemented beautifully by a dimpled, relieved smile.

“I like you too. I’ve liked you for a long time.”

Happiness poured from Waverly, turning Nicole into a blurry mess of red and ivory and blue.

“A long time, huh?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the pretty, little wife and white picket fence you wanted?” Waverly asked.

Though she didn’t doubt Nicole’s feelings, there was still the question of where they were going with it. How could Nicole want her and that future at the same time?

“What about it?” Nicole asked distractedly, contentment painted clear on her face as she watched her fingers start to run through Waverly’s long hair again. She rolled one strand around her pointer finger as she reached mid-length before starting over.

“I mean, you said you like me. And you want that. So…” _So something had to give._

Nicole frowned at first, then her lips stretched into a smirk, humor betrayed only by the fear within her eyes. “Well, you can paint the fence whatever color you’d like. I’m not particular about that.”

_Oh._

Waverly let her body fall back against the wheel.

 _BEEEEEP –_ the sudden, loud noise as her elbow hit the horn startled her into hitting her head on the ceiling. Still, Nicole’s sweet laughter more than made up for the harsh interruption.

Amazed, Waverly stared into joyful honey eyes. _Waverly was the wife_. She was the woman Nicole liked enough to maybe one day build a family with.

“Waverly,” Nicole called her attention, as if aware that there was an inner monologue going on. “Years down the line, and assuming things turn out alright, if you don’t want to get married, that’s okay. I just want a real relationship. With you.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I mean, ok, _yes_ , but _no_ because, you know, just for the record, I have nothing against marriage.”

“Noted,” Nicole said, and she was glowing. Had Waverly always been one right sentence away from making her glow like that?

“Ok.” Though her cheeks were starting to hurt, Waverly found it impossible to let them rest. 

“Ok,” Nicole repeated. “And the white picket fence?”

Waverly took a slow, deep breath. She let her chest fill with air and the joy of the moment and of this silly look into a possible future. “I think I prefer the natural color of wood.”

“Just varnish it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this little series.  
> It was a different exercise for me, trying to stitch things together enough to make them into a single story. There was a break-down somewhere in the middle, but everything turned out ok. At least I hope so!  
> Finally, I'm sorry about the amount of time it took me to get this final piece out there. Sometimes the most I can write down is a sentence every two days.
> 
> Thank you all for joining the ride!

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while, guys.  
> I have been editing this one for I don't know how many weeks - probably not that many. 2 or 3, I guess, though I'm bad at measuring time even on a good day. So, time has had no meening since March.
> 
> I'm Wynonna, forever being corrected on the day of the week by a random fireman.
> 
> On that note, just the other day I was *puzzled* because my bank app said I hadn't paid my bills of December yet (I set them to always close on the 19th of the month), but when I went to the atm it wouldn't let me pay. Had to have my mom explain to me we were still in November.
> 
> Anyway, I'm finally able to post this, after an undefined amount of time and much confusion.


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